High ratings and millions of weekly viewers couldn't save "Stargate Atlantis." Here's why Syfy canceled it... and how one heroic hail mary almost brought it back.
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00:00High ratings and millions of weekly viewers couldn't save Stargate Atlantis.
00:04Here's why SyFy canceled it, and how one heroic Hail Mary almost brought it back.
00:10Executive producer and showrunner Joseph Malozzi was upfront about the core reasoning for the
00:14cancellation of Stargate Atlantis in a blog post published on August 21, 2008, right after
00:20the news broke.
00:21It was confirmed that the fifth and then current season would be the final one, despite strong
00:25metrics for Season 5.
00:27Specifically, he pointed out rising production costs that were impossible to overcome.
00:32It's not exactly surprising that money was the heart of the show's demise, but it was
00:35disappointing for fans nonetheless.
00:37While the exact costing of making Stargate Atlantis isn't public knowledge, The Hollywood
00:41Reporter has confirmed that Stargate SG-1 cost $2.2 million per episode.
00:47And when actor Robert Carlyle sat down with The Telegraph to discuss the 2009 spinoff
00:52series Stargate Universe, he said that a single episode was also in the $2 million range.
00:57It's safe to assume that Stargate Atlantis was in the same ballpark in terms of budget,
01:02and this was clearly too much money to justify during a financial crisis.
01:06But that's not the end of the story.
01:07There was actually a ton of factors at play that led to the fall of Atlantis.
01:11One of the biggest factors in the cancellation of Stargate Atlantis is a little dry, but
01:16bear with us.
01:17The strength of the Canadian dollar against the United States dollar.
01:20It's Canadian, then, you're a little touchy about it.
01:23In his blog post confirming that the show was done, Joseph Malozzi specifically mentioned
01:27the U.S. dollar's steep decline.
01:29To better understand how this impacted the show, let's consider how the exchange rate
01:33of both dollars changed over the course of the production period.
01:36As documented by James Hoare for The Companion, when Stargate Atlantis began production, one
01:41Canadian dollar was equivalent to about 79 United States cents.
01:45This gap had tightened by 2008, with one Canadian dollar now the equivalent of roughly 94 U.S.
01:51cents.
01:52Why was Stargate Atlantis so impacted by this?
01:54Well, the show was filmed in Canada, and when converting the budget into Canadian dollars,
01:59it equated to more money in the early years.
02:01So as the difference between the two dollars lessened, it actually meant the series would
02:05have less money per episode than before, unless there was a budget increase to account for
02:09the shifting exchange rate.
02:11It certainly didn't help that MGM, the studio that owned the franchise, was going through
02:15financial difficulty around the time of the cancellation.
02:18The company filed for bankruptcy in October 2010, and a restructuring began, with creditors
02:23entrusting the founders of Spyglass Entertainment to steady the ship.
02:27In the years leading up to the filing, many highly anticipated projects stalled.
02:31This is not their normal form of bonding.
02:33I mean, it'll take them some time to adapt, to figure out how to function within the new
02:36parameters.
02:37How much time?
02:38Well, I mean, I hate to speculate.
02:39Finally, in 2022, Amazon purchased MGM and its library in a big $8.5 billion deal.
02:47That was great news for Prime Video subscribers, but came far too late to save Stargate Atlantis.
02:52MGM wasn't the only company going through big changes at the time.
02:55In 2009, the SyFy channel rebranded to SyFy.
02:59As part of the rebrand, the content focus shifted.
03:02Instead of a lineup that included two Stargate shows and Battlestar Galactica, the channel
03:06would now lean more into fantasy and supernatural series like Merlin and Being Human, and a
03:11lot of fans weren't thrilled with the shift.
03:13It's a really good show.
03:15Stargate's better!
03:16While science fiction still featured, spacefaring adventure stories were no longer the main
03:20focus.
03:22The company could have taken on the cost of Stargate Atlantis and kept it going after
03:25the rebrand, but that was never a real possibility in the financial climate of the day.
03:29The arrangement for Stargate SG-1 episodes was that MGM covered two-thirds of the costs
03:34and left the rest for SyFy, so it would have been a big increase in outlay for the channel
03:38even without the crisis.
03:40Execs opted to cancel Stargate Atlantis and focus on other properties that were likely
03:44deemed more profitable in the changing media landscape.
03:48Another element that seemingly contributed to the eventual cancellation of Stargate Atlantis
03:52was the ending of Stargate SG-1 in 2007 after ten seasons.
03:57What does that have to do with anything?
03:58Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter, SG-1 and Atlantis share both a production
04:03crew and soundstages, meaning they likely split the costs of these between the two shows.
04:09"...apparently it's also an elevator here."
04:12By having the outlay, more of the budget could go toward making the episodes great.
04:16It was an arrangement that created more wiggle room for the creators and producers.
04:20When SG-1 ended, it likely meant the entirety of the money for soundstages and the crew
04:24was on the shoulders of Atlantis.
04:26Joseph Malozzi wrote about rising production costs in his August 21, 2008 blog post, and
04:31taking on the other half of the monetary obligation for a crew and the soundstages seemingly contributed
04:37to that.
04:38Ironically, when Stargate Universe was greenlit and went into production in 2009, it was shot
04:42on the same soundstages at the Bridge Studios in British Columbia.
04:46But by the time the spinoff premiered in October 2009, the Great Recession was over, and the
04:51costs of the soundstages were easier to justify.
04:55Speaking of Stargate Universe, some Stargate fans blame the 2009 series for the cancellation
05:00of Atlantis, claiming that Atlantis was binned so those resources could go toward a new entry
05:05in the Stargate timeline.
05:06Given the timing of the new spinoff, Atlantis was canceled in 2008, and Universe came out
05:11the following year.
05:12It's a fair assumption to make.
05:13But is there any truth to it?
05:15Well, even though this spinoff isn't directly responsible for the demise of Atlantis, it's
05:20true that executives pulled the plug on that show, knowing that they had another Stargate
05:24show in the pipeline.
05:25When Universe was canceled in 2011, senior vice president and general manager of sci-fi
05:30digital Craig Engler spoke to GateWorld about all things Stargate.
05:34Most of the interview focused on why Universe ended, but Engler also opened up about Atlantis
05:39being dropped, confirming that the existence of the spinoff made the decision easier.
05:43He said,
05:44When MGM and SyFy mutually decided to bring Stargate Atlantis to an end after five seasons,
05:49they did so knowing they'd transition to a new show in the franchise, Stargate Universe.
05:55Stargate Atlantis had strong ratings, typically outperforming other shows on the SyFy channel.
05:59Like many shows, viewership waned over time, but even in the fourth season, the series
06:04averaged 1.8 million viewers, which was half a million more than other shows on the channel.
06:09The final episode of the series garnered 2.02 million viewers, with the fifth season
06:14averaging 2.1 million viewers across the board.
06:17In addition to strong viewer numbers in comparison to other shows on the network, Stargate Atlantis
06:21showed no signs of being past its prime in its later seasons.
06:25Of the show's top five episodes based on IMDb ratings, four of them are in the final two
06:29seasons of the series.
06:30So what gives?
06:31Why did the powers-that-be decide it was time to end Atlantis when ratings were better than
06:36average?
06:37Calling to Craig Engler of SyFy Digital a rise in viewership near the end of a series
06:41isn't actually unusual.
06:43As much as it makes for good reading, this uptick in ratings near the end of Atlantis
06:47was never going to save the show, although it wasn't for lack of trying on behalf of
06:51everyone involved.
06:52In fact, everything was mapped out to continue the show in some way or another.
06:55All it needed was for the right chevrons to lock into place.
06:59When Stargate Atlantis was canceled, MGM and SyFy confirmed that Atlantis would live on
07:03as a film.
07:04At its release, executive producers and creators Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright said that
07:09they were excited to tell Atlantis' stories on a bigger canvas with the movie, which was
07:13going to be released on DVD by MGM.
07:16It had worked for Stargate SG-1, and the assumption was that a straight-to-DVD Atlantis movie
07:20would also do well.
07:21"'This is incredible.'
07:22"'It is.
07:23I sense a but.'"
07:26Speaking to GateWorld shortly after the cancellation of Stargate Atlantis in 2008, Brad Wright
07:31confirmed that the idea of making an Atlantis movie was factored into discussions about
07:36the show's renewal.
07:37Back then, the straight-to-DVD movie market was still in good shape, so when the creative
07:41team sat down with MGM and SyFy, a compromise was reached.
07:44Wright said,
07:45"'We decided to basically pull the trigger on movies sooner rather than later, while
07:49Atlantis was still doing well.
07:51It was a mutual thing.
07:52I honestly have neither the desire nor the inclination to blame anybody, because this
07:56is a wonderful thing to be able to continue.'"
07:58Sadly, the film, which was going to be called Stargate Extinction, never came to pass.
08:02The media landscape was changing yet again, and the powers-that-be decided that going
08:06down the direct-to-DVD route was no longer a smart move.
08:09Showrunner Joseph Malozzi told GateWorld in 2022,
08:13"'Essentially, the bottom had fallen out, and MGM decided to shelve the production on
08:17the movie.'"
08:18Malozzi and the rest of the creative team accepted the end of Stargate Atlantis, graciously
08:23believing that a film was on the horizon.
08:25In fact, they were ready for all eventualities.
08:27If by some miracle the show was renewed, they were prepared to convert the movie into
08:31a two-part opening for the sixth season.
08:33The story would have seen the team traveling through time and getting lost in a different
08:37galaxy, where they run into a future, malicious version of Todd the Wraith.
08:41"'You intend to hold me responsible?'
08:43"'All I know is that everything went sideways, the way it always does when you're involved.
08:47Are you going to tell me that's a coincidence?'
08:49In June 2024, Malozzi made a long expost, sharing a short synopsis for each of the 20
08:54episodes that had been mapped out.
08:56The entire plan for Season 6 is great reading for fans, and it proves that Malozzi and company
09:01were ready to go had they gotten the green light."
09:04Actor and writer Joe Flanagan is well known for his leading role in Stargate Atlantis
09:08as John Shepard, the eventual military commander of Atlantis.
09:12While Flanagan has been on our screens since Atlantis came to a close, Shepard remains
09:15the actor's most notable role on television.
09:18What fans may not know is that Flanagan actually tried to buy the Stargate franchise from MGM
09:22in an attempt to get Atlantis Season 6 made.
09:25Speaking at the Edmondson Expo in 2014, Flanagan revealed that he put together a group of investors
09:30and approached MGM amid the bankruptcy talk with his offer, and got some good news in
09:34return.
09:35Flanagan explained,
09:36"'The guy who ran MGM said, I can't let you buy the franchise.
09:39That would require a level of approval that we can't even muster up these days because
09:42we're going south.
09:43But I can maybe make an informal agreement to lease this thing on a 10-year lease.'"
09:47"'That was a Hail Mary.'"
09:51The actor planned on filming all 20 episodes in Europe.
09:53Presumably the 20 episodes later shared by Malazzi, though that was never confirmed specifically.
09:59Sadly, Flanagan's plans to get Season 6 off the ground never came to fruition, and despite
10:03every attempt, they ultimately couldn't bring the show back to life.
10:13"'Nothing?'
10:14"'Nothing!'